Perfectly golden on the outside and packed full of healthy ingredients like chickpeas and vegetables, these crunchy vegetable nuggets are a great way to get some extra veggies into your diet! Kids will love these delicious vegetable and cheese nuggets for a fun dinner, snack or healthy school lunch.
Vegetable Nuggets
Hands up if you love chicken nuggets! That’s everyone, right?
For a vegetarian twist on the classic chicken nuggets we know and love, try these vegetable and chickpea nuggets! These are the best veggie nuggets around and make a healthier alternative to processed chicken nuggets. And they are the perfect finger food for little eaters!
If you are looking for ideas for kid friendly dinners, these easy nuggets are such a fast and simple option that the whole family can enjoy. They can be eaten hot or cold and are suitable for freezing, perfect for a veggie-packed dinner on busy weeknights. Or thrown into lunchboxes as a handy sandwich substitute!
Easy to make and incredibly delicious, enjoy these tasty vegetable nuggets on their own or dunk them in your favourite dipping sauce. (Mine is sweet chilli or sweet and sour!).
How to make vegetable nuggets
Do you have a bunch of old, unloved veggies in your fridge looking completely sad and useless? Veggie nuggets are a great way to give them a makeover!
The addition of chickpeas holds the nuggets together, but the vegetables can be interchangeable depending on what you have in your fridge. Follow the recipe below, or swap for equal quantities of whichever vegetables you have on hand.
To make these delicious veggie chickpea nuggets, I used;
- Broccoli
- Sweet potato
- Canned chickpeas
- Carrot
- Eggs
- Tasty cheese. The cheese can be omitted for dairy free nuggets.
- Wholemeal bread crumbs
- Spices. Garlic and onion powder and paprika.
- Black pepper
- Coating. These veggie packed nuggets are coated in egg and breadcrumbs and lightly fried in canola oil, or any other oil of choice.
To make the best vegetable and chickpea nuggets, simply cook the grated broccoli, sweet potato and carrot until soft. Then, add the ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth and holding together.
The mixture can be rolled into balls in your hand and gently flattened to the size of your choice (I sometimes make them into larger vegetable patties for the best veggie burgers). Coat the nuggets in egg, followed by panko crumbs.
Then, shallow fry until crispy.
Shallow frying these vegetarian nuggets in the oil of your choice results in the crispiest, crunchiest nuggets. But you could also add a little oil spray and oven bake them if you want to reduce the oil content. The filling is already cooked, so if you decide to oven bake, simply bake until they are crispy on the outside.
Healthy School Lunch Ideas
Vegetable and chickpea nuggets make a healthy, protein packed snack which makes them perfect for lunchboxes, served hot or cold. To store, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days, or in the freezer for up to three months. They can be placed into lunchboxes on busy school mornings and thawed by snack time!
For other sandwich substitutions and other savoury lunchbox ideas, check out this list below;
- Cheese and Vegemite scrolls
- Zucchini slice
- Corn and feta fritters
- Pork sausage rolls
- Easy roast pumpkin soup
For more lunchbox inspiration, check out these recipes. For tips on time saving and bulk baking school lunches, see this post here.
To save time and money on healthy school (and work!) snacks, see my 50 Healthy School Snacks E-BOOK which contains a bonus Guide to Making 2 Minute Lunches.
Vegetable Nuggets
vegetables, these crunchy vegetable nuggets are a great way to get some extra veggies into your diet! Kids will love these delicious vegetable and cheese nuggets for a fun dinner, snack or healthy school lunch.
Ingredients
- 2 cups broccoli finely chopped or shredded
- 1 cup sweet potato peeled and grated
- 1 carrot large, grated
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 200 grams chickpeas canned, drained
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup tasty cheese
- 1 1/3 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- black pepper to taste
For the coating
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg beaten
Additional
- 1/4-1/2 cup canola oil or other oil of choice, for shallow frying
Instructions
- Place the broccoli, sweet potato and carrot in a frying pan with the olive oil and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until soft (around 5 minutes).
- Place the cooked vegetables into a food processor and add the chickpeas, eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic and onion powder, paprika and black pepper.
- Blend until all of the ingredients are smooth and completely combined (this may take a few minutes). You may need to stop and push the sides down until the mixture comes together.
- Using your hands, roll spoonfuls of the mixture into balls of desired size. Use your hands to gently flatten the balls into a nugget shape. Roll the nuggets through the beaten egg and then through the panko crumbs until they are completely coated.
- Heat the canola oil in a large frying pan and shallow fry (medium-high heat) the nuggets in batches. Cook 2-3 minutes each side, until golden and crispy.
Notes
Nutrition
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4 comments
These sound such a great, delicious and healthy idea, I can’t wait to cook them for my toddler!
Thank you Robyn! I hope your toddler enjoys them as much as my kids do 🙂
Such a great way to eat more veggies in a delicious way!!
Hi Sylvie! They sure are- a good excuse to eat more nuggets! 😀